The Global Democracy Promotion Act (.pdf), recently introduced in the House by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), “would bar the use of U.S. foreign aid to restrict people’s liberty … [and] says that organizations accepting U.S. assistance cannot be forced to quash perfectly legal activities in return,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America Vice President Latanya Mapp Frett writes in a New York Daily News opinion piece. She says the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s recent vote to reinstate and expand the so-called “global gag rule” would “foste[r] unintended pregnancy, increasing the need for abortion and endangering women’s health.”

Frett concludes, “Americans may never reach a consensus on health care policy, but common sense and a belief in democracy should bind us all. The Global Democracy Promotion Act would help keep ideology in check, ensuring that U.S. foreign aid promotes development rather than imposes limits on people’s rights. Supporting this legislation should be an obvious decision for any member of Congress who cares about health and democracy” (8/1).